
According to a senior government official, the national e-commerce policy which was proposed by the commerce and industry ministry is being formulated and is in the advanced stages and no new draft policy will be issued now for seeking views of stakeholders.
On August 2, the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) held a detailed discussion with representatives of e-commerce firms and a domestic traders’ body on the proposed policy. A broad level of consensus emerged among the concerned stakeholders over the proposed policy in the meeting.
That official, who wished to be anonymous said that the exercise is over now and they are just getting a final sign off. They also added that there will be a presentation of the proposed policy at the top level of the government. Regarding data localization, the official said that e-comeerce companies must follow the laws of the country. Earlier, the ministry unveiled two draft national e-commerce policies. The 2019 draft proposed to address six broad areas of e-commerce. ecosystem – data, infrastructure development, e-commerce markets, regulatory issues, promotion of domestic digital economy and export promotion through e-commerce. The draft talked about the framework to restrict cross-border information flow; collection or procession of sensitive information locally and storing it abroad; measures to limit the sale of counterfeit products, prohibited items and illegal content; and review of the current practice of not imposing custom duties on electronic transmissions in the light of the changing digital economy.
The proposed policy would consider the interests of all stakeholders such as investors, manufacturers, MSMEs, traders, retailers, start-ups and consumers. The government is also in the process of drafting consumer protection rules for the industry.
The e-commerce policy aims to formulate strategies to create an environment for the inclusive and harmonious growth of the e-commerce sector through a harmonized regulatory framework for the ease of doing business, adoption of modern technologies, integration of supply chains and thus increasing exports.
A national retail trade policy is also being worked on by the DPIIT. Domestic traders have also called for the a regulatory authority to monitor and regulate e-commerce in the country.